Guarding the Pure Land

Tianhua turned around and saw Yilan, motioning for her to sit on a bench.

"Tianhua, we haven't seen you out to play for many days. What have you been doing at home?" Yilan asked.

"Oh, there were some things at home, so I didn't go out," Tianhua replied.

"It's winter, what could there be at home?" Yilan inquired.

Faced with this question, Tianhua really didn't know how to answer. Winters in the mountain village were usually leisurely, a time for people to rest.

"Well..." Tianhua wasn't sure what to say, just an "Well!"

"Is there something you don't want to tell us?" Yilan asked.

Upon hearing Yilan's question, Tianhua suddenly felt that something was amiss. He thought of something and looked at Yilan.

Seeing him looking at her without saying anything, Yilan said, "Why aren't you talking?"

"Yilan, did you peek at Uncle Yi's secret books?" Tianhua asked.

"Why would you ask me that?" Yilan looked puzzled.

"Leave aside everything else, just tell me if you've peeked or not!" Tianhua insisted.

Yilan nodded and said, "Well, I did look at some magic books that Dad didn't want to teach me. He always said I was too young to learn that stuff, but I was curious, so I peeked a bit! Just don't tell Dad." Yilan finished speaking and looked at Tianhua.

"Besides those magic books, did you look at anything else?" Tianhua asked.

Yilan thought hard and then shook her head, "No!"

After hearing this, Tianhua remained silent and turned to look out of the window.

"Why did you suddenly ask me this? And what did I say wrong just now?" Yilan asked when she saw Tianhua gazing out of the window alone without speaking.

"Nothing is wrong. I used to sneak a peek at Dad's training too. His reasons were similar to Uncle Yi's, so I suddenly thought of this and found it interesting. That's why I asked if you had a similar experience!" Tianhua smiled.

Tianhua was telling the truth, but there was a hidden lie in his words.

Yilan responded with an "Okay" and didn't say anything more.

"Yilan, you came to play with me, right? Let's go find Roxin and the others to play now!" Tianhua suggested.

"Why do we need to find Roxin and them?" Yilan whispered.

"What did you say?" Tianhua asked.

"Nothing, I said okay. Let's go!" Yilan hurriedly replied.

After saying that, Tianhua got up and walked towards the door. Yilan followed him, looking at Tianhua from behind with a sense of unease. Every winter before, it was the happiest time for the four of them, but now Tianhua often stayed at home alone, not going out to play with them. More importantly, he seemed to have many things on his mind and didn't want to share with them.

"Yilan, what are you thinking? Why are you walking so slowly!" Tianhua's words interrupted Yilan's thoughts.

Yilan reacted and saw that she and Tianhua were already quite far apart. She responded, catching up quickly.

Finding Roxin and Qinhua, the two were surprised to see Tianhua and Roxin approaching. Qinhua said, "Yilan, it seems that you have a bigger face than the two of us combined. We called Tianhua many times, but he didn't come out. Unexpectedly, you managed to get him out today. Truly admirable!"

Roxin was even more excited when he saw Tianhua. Yilan, after hearing Qinhua's words, smiled and said, "As I see it, my face is not as big as yours, but Tianhua came out specifically to play with you guys." Tianhua looked at the three of them, suddenly not knowing what to say, just standing there with a smile.

"Never thought Tianhua could be shy sometimes!" Qinhua, seeing Tianhua not speaking, suddenly said.

The three laughed heartily.

"Alright, let's not talk about this. Let's go find a place to play!" Tianhua said with a smile.

"What's there to play around here? They could navigate this place with their eyes closed. So, in this situation, finding a fun place is really not easy. Many places were suggested, but either Roxin disagreed or Yilan disagreed... In the end, everyone fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, Roxin enthusiastically proposed playing the snowman game again, hoping to have another match with Tianhua. This suggestion immediately met with strong opposition from everyone, especially Yilan, who disliked the idea of fighting again. Roxin, seeing everyone opposing his self-proclaimed good idea, immediately said in dissatisfaction, 'Forget it, I won't say anything. You guys think about it yourselves!'

"Roxin, playing a game that we've played before isn't fun anymore. Besides, this game consumes a lot of energy! Moreover, there aren't many kids here today; it's just the four of us. It would be a bit monotonous," Tianhua said when he saw Roxin displeased.

"Yes, yes!" Yilan and Qinhua also echoed.

Roxin was always so easily excited, which made Tianhua and the others a bit headache-inducing. Sometimes, they didn't know what words or deeds would upset Roxin. From the past, Roxin's displeasure was just a facial expression, but seeing Roxin's appearance made everyone a bit worried because it gave the impression that he was really angry.

At this moment, Roxin said, "Then you guys think about it!"

Finally, Tianhua suggested going up the mountain, maybe there would be some small animals or something interesting. If there were, they could catch a couple! This proposal was unanimously agreed upon by everyone. After deciding, the four of them headed towards the snow-covered mountain.

On the way up the mountain, the four happily chatted and laughed. They had never been up the mountain in winter before. Roxin and the others were saying why they hadn't thought of coming up the mountain to play in winter before.

"When we were kids, we were carefree, just seeking joy. At that time, the snowy field at the foot of the mountain could satisfy us and bring us happiness. As time passed, we grew up, our understanding of life changed, and the definition of joy also slowly changed. We only miss the joy that childhood brought us. When we try to play again, it's not as happy as it used to be!" Tianhua said, holding a handful of snow, shaping it into a snowball, and then throwing it into the distance.

Yilan looked at Tianhua and felt that Tianhua was slowly changing, becoming distant.

"How do you define joy now?" Qinhua asked.

"My definition is being able to eat well, sleep well, and play well every day!" Roxin said loudly.

After hearing this, the three of them laughed. They all said that Roxin's definition wasn't joy; it was clearly raising pigs.

"I just hope that the four of us can continue to live carefree together without worries!" Yilan looked at Tianhua and said.

Roxin and Qinhua laughed at Yilan for saying silly things. How could the four of them be separated? At this point, Tianhua didn't laugh; he just looked at Yilan.

Just as Qinhua was about to say something, Roxin suddenly yelled and ran ahead.

Thinking that Roxin had discovered something, the others hurriedly followed. Catching up to Roxin, they asked what he had found. Roxin shook his head and said, "Nothing, I just feel excited and want to run!"

The three looked at each other helplessly.

The forest was covered with snow, everything was white, and the four walked through the forest, not knowing the direction. Suddenly, Tianhua said, "Everything here is one color. Let's make a mark, or we might get lost!"

Everyone agreed with this idea. They broke a branch from a tree and stuck it into the snow. That way, they wandered aimlessly, walking and walking. Suddenly, Roxin shouted, "Look!"

The three looked in the direction Roxin pointed, and not far away stood something covered in snow. The four ran towards it, and when they got closer, they cleared away the snow to reveal a stone statue. It was a statue of a humanoid figure with an eagle's head, two times the height of an average person. The four were stunned. What was going on? Although the entire forest was covered in heavy snow, and they had no direction, they were very familiar with this forest. They remembered that there was never a statue like this here.

Tianhua cleared away the snow around the statue, and the entire statue was revealed. The four surrounded the statue and looked at it for a long time, but none of them could say what it was! Tianhua stared into the eyes of the statue.

In the eyes of the eagle, it seemed to contain a world. Through those eyes, Tianhua seemed to see a distant and vast world. He seemed to see people and other creatures there.

Under the azure sky, there was an endless grassland, groups of unknown animals were leisurely grazing, and people were riding unknown creatures, moving slowly back and forth. Tianhua was stunned; the spring in the mountain village was also like this, but there weren't so many animals.

Ah...

A series of screams rang out, and the scene changed to another one, also under the azure sky, but this time on a wilderness. Many people were holding axes and other weapons Tianhua had never seen, fighting each other. Soon, the ground was stained red with blood, full of dead bodies, broken weapons, and trees. People still in the midst of battle. Rain began to fall from the sky, and people slowly began to retreat in various directions. The blood on the ground faded quickly, and soon, the blood was washed away.

After the rain stopped, a rainbow appeared. However, Tianhua didn't show any happy expression. Before, when he was in the mountain village, he loved seeing rainbows the most. Now, he couldn't feel any joy. He felt fear and pain in his heart. Why would people attack their own kind with axes? Why did they treat life so lightly? What did life mean to them?

Many people appeared on the wilderness again, and they moved the bodies away. They dug a large pit and buried the bodies together. Then they left, and there was no fear or pain on their faces; they seemed expressionless. Then, the melee began again...

At this moment, Tianhua thought of war and remembered what Yilan had said about war that night. Was this war?!

Tianhua saw such a thing for the first time and felt afraid. He really didn't want to believe that it was true, but the scene was so real. Tianhua felt pain in his heart. Why was this the real face of the outside world he had been longing for?!

"Tianhua, what are you looking at?" Yilan saw Tianhua staring at the statue and asked in confusion.

Tianhua, hearing Yilan's sudden question, came back to his senses and said, "Look into its eyes!"

The three, upon hearing him say this, looked at the eyes of the statue, but after looking for a while, all three asked Tianhua what was there besides the opaque eyes.

"Can't you see the scenes in its eyes? There are people like us and many things we have never seen before." Tianhua said.

The three looked at each other and shook their heads, indicating that they hadn't seen anything. They all looked at Tianhua with a puzzled expression, apparently finding it hard to understand and believe what he said.

Tianhua looked at the three, not knowing what to say. Then, looking at the eyes again, the scenes from earlier reappeared. Tianhua was puzzled. Why could he see it, but the other three couldn't?

"Alright, let's not waste time here. Let's go check out other places!" Roxin said loudly.

"Yes, this can be studied later when the adults are here in spring. Let's not waste time and go play now!" Qinhua said.

The four wandered around on the snow-covered mountain, hoping to find something that would make them happy. However, they found nothing. They walked aimlessly for a long time on the vast snowy ground without direction.

As it got darker, the four saw no joy to be found. They decided to go down the mountain.

"It's really boring. I didn't expect such a big mountain to have nothing!" Roxin said dissatisfied.

"Who says there's nothing? There's snow, trees, and the four of us!" Qinhua said.

After speaking, the three laughed

Luoxin, upon hearing this, remained silent and continued walking forward. As they walked, the four of them came to the stone statue again, and this time, they stopped in front of it.

"It seems like this thing is the most peculiar thing on the entire mountain in winter!" Luo Xin remarked, looking at the stone statue.

The other three nodded. The four of them gathered around the statue and observed it for a while.

Tianhua stared into its eyes, and inside, a figure seemed to be walking towards him. The appearance became clearer and clearer, and soon, he saw an old man with white hair and beard, looking at him with a gentle smile. Although the old man had white hair and beard, there was no trace of old age on his face. Instead, he exuded the vibrant spirit of a young man.

"Tianhua!"

As Tianhua focused on the old man, he was startled to hear a voice calling his name. He glanced at Yilan and the others but realized that the voice did not come from them. Curious, Tianhua examined the old man's face, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before. He stared blankly, and suddenly, a peculiar thought crossed his mind: he felt that the voice calling his name was coming from the old man! He found it strange how the old man could know his name, so he decided to wait and see. If the old man knew his name, maybe there was something more he wanted to say. Tianhua genuinely hoped that there was more to be said. This time, he didn't call Yilan and the others because he was convinced that they couldn't see any of this. If they could, they would probably scream.

However, Tianhua didn't get to wait for more. The person in the eyes continued to smile at him, as if there were no intention of speaking further. A few times, Tianhua thought he saw the old man's lips move, as if he were about to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

"Oh well, what's so interesting about this stone statue? It's getting dark; let's go back!" Luo Xin, who had been looking around, found nothing interesting and urged everyone to return.

Yilan and Qinhua also agreed that it was time to leave. Only Tianhua remained, staring at the eyes, as if he had no intention of leaving.

"Tianhua, did you see people or animals again?" Qinhua asked.

The three of them looked at Tianhua curiously, and Tianhua snapped out of his trance, looking at them with a smile, "No, let's go back!"

The four of them left the stone statue, and as they walked a few steps, Tianhua turned around. He saw the person in the eyes waving and smiling at him, bidding farewell.